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1940: Taking over French Cinema

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Synopsis

Paris, 1940. German occupation forces create a new film production company, Continental, and put Alfred Greven – producer, cinephile, and opportunistic businessman – in charge. During the occupation, under Joseph Goebbels’s orders, Greven hires the best artists and technicians of French cinema to produce successful, highly entertaining films, which are also strategically devoid of propaganda. Simultaneously, he takes advantage of the confiscation of Jewish property to purchase film theaters, studios and laboratories, in order to control the whole production line. His goal: to create a European Hollywood. Among the thirty feature films thus produced under the auspices of Continental, several are, to this day, considered classics of French cinema.

DocumentaryHistoryTV Movie
FranceBased On Novel Or BookWorld War IiGerman OccupationAntisemitism1940sOccupied France (1940-44)Film IndustryDocumentaryHistorical Documentary

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What is 1940: Taking over French Cinema (2019) about?

Paris, 1940. German occupation forces create a new film production company, Continental, and put Alfred Greven – producer, cinephile, and opportunistic businessman – in charge. During the occupation, under Joseph Goebbels’s orders, Greven hires the best artists and technicians of French cinema to produce successful, highly entertaining films, which are also strategically devoid of propaganda.…

Who stars in 1940: Taking over French Cinema?

1940: Taking over French Cinema stars Sarah-Jane Sauvegrain (Self (voice)), Louis-Émile Galey (Self (archive footage)), Claude Heymann (Self (archive footage)), Jean Dréville (Self (archive footage)), Marcel Carné (Self (archive footage)). The film was directed by Pierre-Henri Gibert.

How long is 1940: Taking over French Cinema?

1940: Taking over French Cinema has a runtime of 55 min and premiered in 2019.

Where can I watch 1940: Taking over French Cinema?

Streaming availability for 1940: Taking over French Cinema changes by country and service. TasteRay tracks where it is available across Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Max, Apple TV+ and 50+ other platforms — the current options for your country are shown on this page.